Thursday, November 12, 2009

Today on KTRS/St. Louis, I talked with author Taylor Branch, who had 79 confidential conversations with President Bill Clinton during his two terms of office from 1993 to 2001. Those discussions, done contemporaneously as the President wrestled with the issues of the time, helped Clinton when he wrote his autobiography a few years ago. Now he has allowed Branch to compile them into his new book, "The Clinton Tapes."

I asked Branch why Clinton kept these tapes so secret for so long, whether he was worried about them being subpoenaed, and whether there were limitations on what they discussed. Our topics today included:

Did Clinton feel he played a role in Al Gore losing the election in 2000?

Did Boris Yeltsin really run out onto Pennsylvania Avenue in his underwear, drunk and looking for pizza?

How did Clinton react on the day of the Oklahoma City bombing?

What did Clinton tell him about Osama Bin Laden in the years before 9/11/01?

Was he frank about his affair with Monica Lewinsky?

Did Clinton blame the Supreme Court for allowing the Paula Jones deposition to proceed by claiming it wouldn't be a distraction for the White House?